The Story Behind The District's FY 2021 Budget
Policies, programs, and services that invest in tackling the root causes of racial injustice
BudgetExplained
The Council directed $11.4M to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to help childcare facilities weather the COVID-19 health emergency
Mayor's Proposed Education Investment
$4.2M was provided to the D.C. Public Library system to support library operating hours and purchase books.
OSSE received $900,000 for literacy grants to improve the reading outcomes of young children.
$435,000 was allocated at multiple agencies to support transparency in school budgets and common financial reporting at both District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and the Public Charter Schools.
The Council invested $248,000 at the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education to continue supporting organizations that provide equitable programming for youth when they are out of school
Resilience in Education
From the Mayor's Proposed Investments to the Council Enhancements and Approved Budget
How The Council Invested in Education
The Department of Health Care Finance and Department of Human Services (DHS) received a combined enhancement of $7.4M to expand low-income residents’ access to health care by allowing DC Healthcare Alliance enrollees to recertify their eligibility over the phone.
Social Determinants of Health
Black families and individuals also have more difficulty absorbing COVID19’s economic shock because generations of structurally racist polices and practices created, maintained, and furthered a vast racial wealth gap.
FY 2021 Summary Report - Introduction
Our work will not be over until race is no longer a predictor of life outcomes.
We are far away from achieving this dream, and that is why the work started by this budget is so important.
FY 2021 Summary Report - Introduction
The FY 2021 Budget and Financial Plan recognizes that the District has a tough road ahead, but a recovery that gets us back to “normal” is not good enough. “Normal” was not fair, and “normal” was not just.
FY 2021 Summary Report - Introduction
Reflections on The Council's Investments in the FY2021 Budget
Overall Change from FY20 to FY21
The FY 2021 Budget and Financial Plan provides resources to address District residents’ most urgent and immediate needs with a net total of $80 million of budget enhancements over the Mayor’s proposed local budget. The Council’s enhancements reallocates funds from policing to community-based interventions; invests in education, health care access, and housing; strengthens the social safety net;
and opens new opportunities to businesses.
Compared to the District’s FY 2020 approved local funds budget, the FY 2021 local budget increased by $52 million.
The Council's Enhancements to the FY2021 Proposed Budget
Source: FY 2021 Approved Budget and Financial Plan
The Greatest Public Health Crisis in Living Memory
Change in Local Funds
The Council directed $1.7M to the Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants (OVSJG) for the Access to Justice Initiative. OVSJG also received an increase of $1.8M for victim services grants.
Violence prevention and intervention programs received $3.6M, including investments in the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) for enhancements to the Pathways Program and funding for the new Restorative Justice Collaborative.
The Council provided support for domestic violence survivors with $3M to support the construction of a new emergency shelter.
The Council allocated $1.5M to housing supports for returning citizens and restored the Paralegal Fellowship program for returning citizen students.
The Council reallocated $9.67M from the Metropolitan Police Department to programs providing violence interruption and prevention, restorative justice, and victim services.
Criminal Justice Reform
The Council provided $5.5M to the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) to allow local behavioral health providers to continue to serve both Medicaid and non-Medicaid District residents who receive mental health rehabilitation services.
DBH’s budget was also enhanced by $3.8M to support the school-based mental health program and expand the program to an additional 30 schools.
The Council funded $2M to maintain and expand school-based nutrition and wellness programs.
The Council allocated $1.42M to fund the “Racial Equity Achieves Real Change Amendment Act,” which aims to provide racial equity in government policies and political systems.
$3M was invested to honor and support Go-Go Music and Culture.
The “Campaign Finance Reform Amendment Act of 2020” was partially funded through a $466,000 enhancement to establish a Campaign Finance Board and allow for the Board of Elections to issue advisory opinions.
$60,000 was provided to the Board of Elections to implement to “Leave to Vote Amendment Act of 2020,” which requires employers to provide employees with at least two hours of paid leave
so that they may vote in person.
Inclusive Governance
DCHA and DHS also received a $5.29M investment to create 160 new units of Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
DHS received a $7.27M enhancement for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) to help low-income families and older adults avoid eviction.
The Council allocated $2.19M to the Department of Employment Services and the Office of Human Rights to implement the “Tipped Wage Worker Fairness Amendment Act of 2018”, which adds new protections for tipped workers.
The Department of Small and Local Business Development received a $772,000 enhancement to support new and existing Clean Teams and to create new Main Streets programs.
The Council enhanced DHS’s budget by $500,000 to establish a wrap-around workforce development program for transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming District youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
The Council dedicated $7.49M to create
approximately 385 new units of housing for extremely low-income families and individuals through the D.C. Housing Authority’s (DCHA) Local Rent Supplement Program (LRSP).
Economic Justice
Recognizing the urgency of the District’s needs for supports and services during the public health emergency and the economic crisis, the Council moved to expand the tax base, raise tax rates and charges on certain transactions, eliminate specific tax deductions, and repurpose existing government reserves. Through these changes, the Council identified $93.4 million in new and repurposed resources to budget in FY 2021 and $278.2 million across the four-year financial plan – see Table 1.
Revenue and Resource Reallocation